Light Cube Controller Circuit Program Design

Compared with the traditional plane publicity equipment, the Light Cube has a 3D performance effect that traditional equipment does not have. While having a stronger performance, it also provides users with an easy-to-operate APP control system, allowing users to easily modify the light at any time. Cube's display content fully demonstrates the characteristics of high efficiency, low consumption, and ease of use, and is one of the best choices for outdoor publicity.

Outdoor advertising has always been an important way for businesses to publicize to the outside world, and with the continuous progress of society, more and more cities have developed into cities that never sleep. Under the night, the traditional forms of banners, hanging pictures and wall advertisements can no longer meet the requirements of high visibility, and can no longer meet people's needs in the fierce market competition. A new type of publicity with lights as the information carrier emerged as the times require and developed rapidly, reaching a complementary form with the traditional form of publicity.

1. Overall scheme design of light cube

In this project, STC12C5A60S2 single-chip microcomputer and LED lights are used as the hardware basis, C language is used as the programming basis, and combined with mobile devices, a night light display product that integrates safety, efficiency, energy saving and strong performance - Light Cube .

In the light cube, based on the single-chip microcomputer, multiple LED light groups are controlled, and the 3D expression is realized through the control of the program in the form of a matrix, and a WiFi module is embedded in it to provide an access interface for external control .

With its advantages of high reliability, outstanding processing function and speed, low power consumption, strong control function and environmental adaptability, and modularization, single-chip microcomputer has been used in intelligent instruments, industrial control, household appliances, medical equipment, aerospace, It has been widely used in network communication, automotive electronics and other fields. STC12C5A60S2 single-chip microcomputer is a new generation of 8051 single-chip microcomputer. The instruction system is fully compatible with 8051, but the speed is 8-12 times faster than it, and it has the characteristics of low power consumption, high speed, super anti-interference, etc., which is very suitable for outdoor work.

LED lights have the characteristics of small size, low voltage, long life, high brightness, and environmental protection. They are one of the best choices for outdoor light sources. C language is a high-level programming language that can directly control the bottom layer. While the complexity is far lower than assembly, it also provides powerful low-level processing capabilities that other high-level languages do not have, and has a very high efficiency.

The external control chooses the control system with APP as the medium. Based on the Android system which is very popular in the market, a wireless control system with WiFi as the communication basis is developed, which gets rid of the troubles of complicated control and inconvenient operation of traditional similar products. .

2. Light cube control program and APP design

2.1 Light cube control program design

The programming language of the light cube control program adopts C language, and the light group information is stored in the program through the single-chip microcomputer chip, and then the C language is used to call the on-off and color of the LED light at the corresponding position to form a complete dynamic light effect; The cube also has an audio outlet, which can also be used to switch and play sound effects through control, which greatly enriches the display effect of the light cube. The functions that need to be completed by the control program of the light cube include: power-on inspection, Logo display, mode switching (letter mode/animation mode), display effect switching, and WiFi control.

The main function of the power-on inspection is to check whether there is a fault in the hardware. This is a necessary step. Most problems can be eliminated through sequential scanning in three directions (from front to back, from back to front, from top to bottom), and users can By checking the results to judge whether the light cube is in a normal operating state, this ensures the maintainability of the light cube.

Logo display is a way for producers to display their own trademarks and slogans. During the display process of the light cube, two display forms were considered, one is the fast and simple letter mode, the user only needs to type in the corresponding letter to display; and for more brilliant effects, a slightly more complex animation mode is also provided , by the user to edit the desired effect to achieve the purpose of self-DIY.

In the way of user management, many traditional products adopt the form of plug-in card, but this form is complicated to operate and not easy to use. Therefore, this method is not adopted in the light cube, but a WiFi module is embedded. By writing the WiFi control function, the user can easily use the mobile control terminal to control the light cube.

2.2 Light Cube APP Design

The mobile phone APP is the best way for users to control the light cube, so the development of the APP focuses on ease of use and needs to be easier for users to understand. The APP should have interfaces such as concise menus, mode switching, and effect settings. After the APP is opened, it will enter the concise menu page, and the user can choose detailed operation options on this page.

The effect setting interface is another very important interface, which converts the light group information into a visual user editing interface for saving user settings. The Android client is very common nowadays, which also provides a very convenient hardware basis for client control.

3. Light cube hardware design

The hardware system of the light cube is composed of single-chip microcomputer chips and LEDs. In the hardware design process, the schematic diagram needed for the light cube was first drawn through Altium Designer.

After generating the hex file in Keil, perform circuit simulation to verify the correctness of the circuit. When the simulation is correct, burn the program into the chip of the single-chip microcomputer, so that the program written before can establish a corresponding connection with the hardware, and achieve the purpose of controlling the light cube through the program. Finally, the welding of the bottom plate is carried out. Because it is in the experimental stage, the equipment selected is small and very fragile. It needs to be operated very carefully to avoid damage to the circuit board or chip. Finally, through the efforts of the team members, the welding of the bottom plate was completed.

After the welding of the bottom plate is completed, it is the last step, which is also the most complicated step: welding the LED lamp group. A total of 512 LED lamps of 8×8×8 are selected for the lamp group. The arrangement between the lamps must be careful , A LED circuit failure may affect the display effect of a circuit or even the entire light cube. After careful welding, the light cube is finished. The light cube effect diagram is shown in Figure 3.

In the process of commercialization and subsequent development, the general development directions of Light Cube are: large-scale, refined, intelligent and hybrid. Large-scale is aimed at the long-distance transmission of high-rise buildings. At this time, it is not only a change in product specifications, but also an increase in the number of chips and LED brightness. Refinement refers to the refinement of the pins for the underlying building, interior and high-end needs, and the high-end improvement of LED materials. Intelligentization is the development trend of electronic equipment now, such as the realization of functions such as direct import of animation and pictures. The combination of the above three requirements can be applied to most scenarios, which is also the mainstream product direction that can be produced on the assembly line after the Light Cube enters the market.

epilogue

The team lived up to expectations and completed the expected goals. While completing the goals, the team members were also reflecting on the many shortcomings of the project. The single-chip microcomputer technology is changing with each passing day, and if you don’t strive for progress, it will eventually be eliminated. Therefore, if the product wants to keep up with the pace of the times, it must continue to improve in technology. The form of the light cube tends to be quite satisfactory, and there are very large limitations in terms of hardware and software, such as the design of the light cube that has not considered the spherical structure, etc. The more complex and exquisite light cube design tests not only hardware knowledge, but also software design. If we want the Light Cube to go to the market and be accepted by people, we need to keep learning and improving.

The above is the light cube development example introduced by Shenzhen Zuchuang Microelectronics Co., Ltd. for you. If you have light cube PCBA solution design requirements, you can trust us. We represent a variety of single-chip microcomputers, voice chips, dual-mode Bluetooth ICs, and wifi chips. Brands include Songhan MCU, Yingguang MCU, Jerry Bluetooth, Ankai Bluetooth, Allwinner, and Realtek. Our technical services include: PCB design, microcontroller development, Bluetooth solutions, software and hardware custom development, APP development, small program development, WeChat official account development, etc. It can also undertake the design of intelligent electronic products, the development of living appliances, the research and development of beauty equipment, the application of Internet of things platform, the smart home control system, the development of TWS earphones, Bluetooth earphone speakers, the development of children's educational toys, the design of electronic education products, etc.